The Sound of Music
by lowdergirl
Summary: When Chloe loses her hearing, can Brady help her reach for her dreams?
1. Default Chapter

The Sound of Music  
  
Chapter One  
  
"Oh wow, it's…wow." Chloe stared up in awe. She could not believe that it was standing right in front of them, on top of many stone steps, merely yards away from them. She saw the words that had been carved into the classically styled building and read them aloud.  
  
"The Julliard School of New York"  
  
She and Brady stood silently side-by-side and just stared at the mammoth structure. Chloe struggled to find the words to express how she felt at that moment.  
  
"I can't believe it. That I'm really here. At Julliard, getting ready to start school. Brady, this has been my dream for so long and just last summer I didn't think that I would live to see this day."  
  
Brady's eyes sparkled with joy as he gazed down at her. "Hey, you're going to live to see and do a lot of things."  
  
"Yeah. Thanks to you." Chloe gazed up at him, into his blue eyes, unable to express her immense gratitude for the man who had saved her life. Her mind traveled back to last summer, when she had received the devastating news that she had cancer in the form of leukemia. Painful chemotherapy treatments had brought her into remission, but she still needed a bone marrow transplant in order to stay healthy. Which meant finding a bone marrow match.  
  
Brady had somehow, miraculously tracked her long-lost father to a little backwater town in North Dakota and the two of them left on a journey to find him. Despite Phillip's damaging interference they did manage to find him again. Dr. Sykes had been quite stunned by the news that he had a daughter, and was especially ashamed to realize that her mother was Nancy Miller, a woman that he had raped once in the darker years of his past.  
  
Chloe blinked rapidly to keep back the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes. Learning that she was the product of a rape had been the worst moment of her life, even worse than learning of her cancer. She was still dealing with the shame and self-loathing that the knowledge brought.  
  
Brady quickly noticed Chloe's abrupt shift in mood. "Hey, what's wrong? Today's a happy day." He said as he gifted her with a hopeful smile.  
  
Chloe shook off the pain of the last few months. Brady was right. Today was a happy day. She flashed him a small smile. Instead of dwelling on the pain and sadness, she tried to focus on the good things in her life. Her father had been all too eager to amend the sins of his past and agreed to help her in anyway. He unfortunately wasn't a match for Chloe. But his five-year-old granddaughter, Michele, was. The operation went smoothly and was a complete success. Chloe was now as healthy as she ever was, with her entire future before her.  
  
"I can't believe they're going to let me make up my audition for the master class." Chloe repeated softly in disbelief of her good fortune.  
  
"Speaking of which," Brady spoke up as he checked his watch, "the audition is not for another hour yet. Why don't we go check out your dorm and get you settled in?"  
  
As they walked across the campus toward the student dorms, their hands found their way to each other, fingers automatically intertwining. Chloe looked down in wonder at their clasped hands. They always seemed to be holding hands lately. She marveled at the way their hands fit so perfectly together, kind of like they were made for each other.  
  
{Not like with Phillip.} she thought. She had thought that breaking up with Phillip would have hurt more than it did. Wasn't he her first love? Instead, she rarely thought of him, especially now that he had joined the military.  
  
When Phillip had nearly ruined Chloe's chances of finding her father, he realized that his jealousy was dangerously out of control. The knowledge that Chloe might have died from his actions was like a bucket full of ice water crashing in his face. It was the wake up call that he had desperately needed. While his father, Victor had wanted him to go to college; Phillip realized that what he really needed was to get away from his father's money and the benefits it brought. Mainly, though he wanted to know what it was like to be the hero. So he left town and Chloe cordially, wishing her well on her bright future as he looked forward to his own.  
  
Chloe remembered her last conversation with Phillip and recalled his last words to her. "I can't believe that I'm actually saying this," he had begun with a wry smile that flashed his dimples, "but I feel kind of good leaving you in Brady's hands. I know he won't hurt you, not like I did."  
  
Chloe had frowned at his cryptic words. "Phillip, you know Brady and I are just friends."  
  
He had looked at her strangely then and she wondered to see the sadness in his eyes. "Yeah, you are. And that's the tragedy. I wonder if either one of you will ever realize it."  
  
"Realize what?"  
  
But Phillip just shook his head. "Nothing. You'll figure it out, eventually."  
  
Chloe shook her head as she and Brady walked toward her room. She had yet to decipher Phillip's meaning. Was he saying that there was more to her relationship to Brady than just friendship? {Does Brady think of me as more than a friend?} she pondered as she glanced at his beautiful face.  
  
Certainly, she and Brady were much closer than they ever had been. Coming close to death will do that to people. But now that she was out of danger, their relationship had changed yet again, becoming more like their friendship of old. Chloe was a little saddened by it, but she couldn't really understand why. It just felt like she had lost something. Once she and Brady had been so close they were on the verge of becoming something more, a new level to their relationship. Several times, she had thought that Brady was going to tell her something. Something momentous, that would forever change how they felt about each other. But he never did.  
  
And now months later, they stood here at Julliard, getting ready to part ways. She would be going to school, embarking on her dream as an opera star. And he would be going back to Salem, to continue his own bright career at Basic Black. He did say that BB would be opening up offices in NY. But that was still years away. So for now, they would be going their separate ways.  
  
"Today's a happy day." Brady's voice echoed in her mind. It was supposed to be. Here she was, getting ready to make all her dreams come true, yet inside she felt a gaping hole twisting in her heart. She looked over at Brady for reassurance, and also to see how he was feeling.  
  
Brady felt even worse than she did. He was torn by the utter sadness he felt at leaving her and the need to be upbeat for her sake. This was her dream; he would never come between that. Because of that he had decided not to tell her of his feelings.  
  
It was only months ago that Brady had finally realized what others had known so long. He was in love with Chloe. Utterly and hopelessly in love with her. He loved her with everything he had and everything he was. He loved her so much he knew when to hold on to her, like this last summer when she was facing her death. And he knew when to let go, like right now.  
  
A relationship now would only hold her back, keep her from fully reaching out for her dream. That's what he told himself anyway. The truth was, he was more than a little scared to admit his love for her. What if she didn't feel the same way? Or what if it didn't work between them? He would lose both her love and her friendship.  
  
{Better to just keep smiling brightly, Brady} he told himself as he gave Chloe's hand a friendly squeeze. {Who knows what the future will bring?} 


	2. Chapter Two

The Sound of Music  
  
Chapter Two  
  
"I don't wanna live in a dorm." Chloe whined, sounding just a little like a spoiled child.  
  
Brady smiled and chucked her chin. "Well too bad, cause this is where you're staying, for the next year at least, until you and Belle can get a place of your own."  
  
"Thanks to that stupid rule about freshmen not allowed to live off campus, I'm forced to live in a tiny room with a bunch of people I don't know." Chloe grumbled, a deep frown on her face.  
  
"Hey, cheer up. It will be just like summer camp."  
  
"Never been."  
  
"Girl Scouts."  
  
"Ditto."  
  
"Uh, the orphanage?"  
  
Chloe rolled her eyes. "Lord, I hope not." The orphanage where she had spent a good portion of her life hadn't exactly been a fun place.  
  
Brady gently gripped her shoulders. "It's not going to be so bad. You already know that you have one thing in common with your dorm mates: music. You're going to walk away from this experience with a lot of new friends. Trust me. Besides, it's too late to back out now; we're here."  
  
Chloe looked at the oak door in front of her, her stomach fluttering with trepidation. She took a deep breath and knocked lightly on the door, and then slowly opened it.  
  
"Um.hello?" she called into the room.  
  
A pretty brunette emerged from a separate room. She smiled immediately and extended her hand to Chloe. "Hi, you must be the new girl, uh Chloe Lane, right?"  
  
Chloe smiled in response. "Yeah, that's me."  
  
"Nice to meet you. I'm Carlyn Spencer. And this," she said, motioning to another girl who had appeared from the same room, "is Steph. She doesn't live here though. Actually, it's just going to be the two of us, Chloe, and I'm away a lot, so hope you like being by yourself." Carlyn said with an apologetic smile.  
  
Chloe just nodded, a little overwhelmed by the other girl's energetic personality. "Nice to meet you, both." She said softly.  
  
Carlyn looked at Chloe and Brady as they nervously stood in the doorway. "Where are my manners?" she cried as she slapped her forehead. "Please, come in, both of you."  
  
They followed Carlyn into the other room, which appeared to be the living quarters for the suite. Steph sat down in front of a computer screen. "You'll have to forgive Carlyn; she's just a tad scatterbrained." She commented wryly without looking up from the screen.  
  
Carlyn dropped onto a plush leather couch and motioned for the others to sit as well. "I'd be offended if it wasn't so true. I have like, no short term memory." She smiled warmly at Chloe and Brady. She looked at Brady. "I'm sorry. you are?"  
  
"Brady."  
  
"Brady, interesting name. Don't think I've ever heard it used as a first name." Carlyn said thoughtfully.  
  
Brady chuckled softly. "Yeah, well, I'm named for some interesting people."  
  
"Will you also be going to school here?" she asked cordially.  
  
"Uh, no. I'm Chloe's.friend. I'm here for the master class audition. Moral support and all that. We had time to kill and thought we'd check out the dorms."  
  
Carlyn turned to Chloe. "So Chloe, what field are you studying?"  
  
"Voice; I want to go into opera. What about you?" Chloe asked her new roommate.  
  
"Um, I'm studying violin, piano, cello, guitar and I think that's it."  
  
Chloe and Brady stared at her dumbfounded.  
  
Steph laughed. "Carlyn's one of those disgusting child prodigy types. Been playing the violin since she was three. She can pretty much play any instrument. Disgusting, isn't it?"  
  
Carlyn stuck her tongue out at her teasing friend while getting up from the couch. "Anyway, nice to meet you two, but we have places to be. Good luck on your audition, Chloe." She called behind her as she and her friend left the dorm.  
  
"Well, that was certainly very interesting." Chloe commented to Brady, not quite sure of what to make of her new roommate.  
  
"You're going to love it here." He assured her, gently clasping her hand in his.  
  
"No I won't." she insisted softly. She couldn't keep the sad longing she felt from her blue eyes. "You won't be here." She whispered as she turned her head. She just couldn't look at him now.  
  
Sadness tore at Brady's heart. He couldn't stand leaving her either. But it was the best thing for both of them. Chloe has dreams and aspirations; he couldn't stand in the way of that. He reached out and gently took hold of her chin.  
  
"Hey, you're talking like this is the end. Come on, we've been through too much together for our.friendship to end now. You know I'm just a phone call away, and Dad's working on opening a BB branch here. And he's given me use of his private jet whenever I want. I can be here in two hours, whenever you need me. We'll have holidays and breaks, and weekends. I'm going to be here so much, you're going to be begging for me to leave." Brady joked with a smile.  
  
Chloe gifted him with a small smile. "I guess so." She mumbled.  
  
"That's better. Now we better get to your audition."  
  
They stepped outside on the way to the adjoining building. They were surprised to see that the overcast sky had now grown dark and lightning flashed in the distance. They walked across the courtyard and entered the audition hall just as the bottom dropped out. They found their way to the audition rooms and learned that Chloe's audition would be recorded in a studio.  
  
Brady noticed Chloe's apprehension. "Come on, you'll do fine. You've already made it this far, through so many obstacles. Come on, Chloe, you've faced death and won. What's one little audition compared to that?"  
  
She smiled at that. She had come a long way. She turned to enter the studio but Brady pulled her back around to him. He placed a soft kiss on her temple. "For luck." He told her with a grin.  
  
Chloe waited anxiously in the small room for her cue to begin singing. She had never been in a recording studio before. But Brady's calming words replayed in her mind. She could see him in the other room through the thick glass. He shot her an exuberant thumbs-up and she smiled in return, feeling some of her nervousness dissipate.  
  
She jumped slightly when the studio lights suddenly flickered. {It must really be storming outside.} She shook off her nerves and focused on the music playing in her headphones. Her cue was coming up.  
  
She took several deep breaths to compose herself. {You can do this, Chloe. This is everything you've ever wanted, everything you've worked for all your life. Here in this moment.} she told herself.  
  
She was preparing to sing when there was suddenly a loud booming noise. The aged building shook and the lights sparked brightly before going out. Chloe was just beginning to wonder if the building had been struck by lightning when a bolt of electricity suddenly erupted from the equipment. It shot up the headphone wire with a blinding flash. Before Chloe could react, she was knocked off her feet as the electric bolt slammed into her head. She flew backwards, her limp body resembling a rag doll, before crashing hard to the floor.  
  
Her head swam and her ears were ringing loudly. She blinked open her eyes and was quickly aware of pain all over her body, but mainly her face and ears. Fluid trickled out of her ears and as the backup lights kicked on, she could see that it was blood, flowing heavily down the sides of her face. She looked up to see Brady hovering over her calling out to her, but she couldn't hear him over the ringing in her ears.  
  
Others stood over her, examining her. She couldn't really focus enough to understand what had happened but she knew something serious was wrong with her. People were calling her name, asking her questions, but she still couldn't hear over the ringing in her head. All she could see were their mouths moving rapidly. Her head spun and darkness pulled at the edges of her consciousness. She looked up at Brady with questioning fear in her eyes. She watched his mouth moved and she was relieved when the loud ringing in her ears faded away. But Brady's lips kept moving and she still couldn't hear him. She couldn't hear anything she realized as ice crawled through her veins. She swayed once and fell into dark silence. 


	3. Chapter Three

The Sound of Music  
  
Chapter Three  
  
Brady watched a nervous Chloe pace in the recording studio and smiled. He waved his reassurance to her through the thick glass window that separated them. He inhaled deeply, feeling his own butterflies dancing in his stomach. {This is crazy; I think I'm more nervous than Chloe is.} He shot her an exuberant thumbs-up sign and tried to chase away his anxiety. {Come on Brady. She's going to do great. This is her dream. All she's ever wanted.}  
  
The lights flickered briefly snapping Brady out of his reverie.  
  
"Whoa. That's some storm." A technician joked.  
  
Brady frowned slightly, feeling an unpleasant tingle in the back of his head. He looked around at the recording equipment and computers in the room, all of them plugged into the building's main electrical source.  
  
"Is this safe? Recording in a storm like this?" his concerned question was accompanied by a loud thunderclap that sent tremors running down the building's aged walls.  
  
"Safe enough for us." The facilitator answered. "Not so safe for our equipment. We've been having problems with our surge protectors lately. So we need to finish this audition before the storm gets any worse."  
  
The words were barely out of his mouth when the florescent lights above them sparked brightly and went out. The building shook violently followed by a deafening roll of thunder.  
  
"Looks like we were hit." A voice spoke up in the thick surrounding darkness.  
  
"Don't worry, backup generator should be kicking in soon." Another voice reassured him.  
  
Brady instinctively turned his unseeing eyes to the studio where he had last seen Chloe. {It's okay Chloe - nothing to worry about.} he projected mentally to her.  
  
Suddenly a blinding flash erupted in the studio, searing Brady's retinas with a sharp after image. He had only just identified the light as electricity when it leaped outward from the recording equipment in the studio. It traveled up the wire of Chloe's headphones on a direct course to her ears. He watched in stunned horror as the bolt exploded in her face and knocked her off her feet. And then once again there was darkness.  
  
"CHLOE!" he cried, panic hammering at his racing heart. He stumbled in the dark room for the connecting door to the studio. Everywhere around him equipment sparked violently causing the others in the room to jump back. A whispered curse issued from a technician who'd suffered a mild electrical burn.  
  
Brady had finally managed to reach the door when the backup lights came on. He looked through the thick glass into the studio and saw Chloe lying prone on the floor. She wasn't moving. He tried the door several times with no success. It wouldn't budge.  
  
"What's wrong with the door?" he barked angrily. He had to get to Chloe immediately.  
  
"The storm must have fried the electronic locks. There's no opening that door." Someone explained as Brady threw his weight against the heavy metal door. He rammed his shoulder into the door, but only succeeded in bruising his upper arm.  
  
"Dammit!" he cursed violently. There had to be another way into that room. He looked again at the glass window speculatively. His eyes glanced around the room and finally settled on a wooden stool.  
  
"You'll never be able to break that glass. It's three inches thick!" a technician warned him.  
  
But Brady paid him no attention as he swung the stool at the glass. It merely bounced off the surface on the first try, but he kept swinging, always at the same tiny spot. Finally a small crack became visible in the glass. It grew larger and deeper until the entire window shattered under the force of Brady's blow.  
  
He dropped the stool and carefully climbed through the broken window. He rushed to Chloe's side and stooped beside her.  
  
"Chloe?!" he called out while checking her wounds.  
  
"chloe?" he called again softly. The stench of burnt flesh and melting rubber assaulted his nose. "Oh God." he breathed as he moved her hair back from her face. Her cheeks were scorched from her ears to her nose with long blistering streaks. He carefully pried the steaming headphones from her bleeding ears.  
  
Brady was barely aware of the people moving behind him as they phoned for help. He felt a hand on his tense shoulder.  
  
"An ambulance is on its way. They're working on getting the main power back on line so we can get out of here. Lord, that bleeding looks pretty bad." the voice trailed off.  
  
Brady had come to the same conclusion. He quickly pulled off his shirt and held it firmly against her ears to try to slow the flow of blood. He held her scorched face tenderly in his hands and fought down his swelling nausea. Fluid oozed from open blisters on her face. Brady blinked back the burning tears that threatened to spill from his eyes.  
  
"chloe," he whispered mournfully. To his immense relief, Chloe slowly fluttered her eyes open. Their eyes locked for an endless moment as Chloe slowly became aware of herself and her surroundings. "Thank God. Oh Chloe."  
  
"Brady?" she rasped painfully.  
  
"Shhh, don't try to talk. Chloe you've been hurt pretty badly, but you're going to be okay." He soothed her, wishing he felt as confident as he tried to sound.  
  
"Brady, I can't hear you." She said as her eyes widened in fear.  
  
"It's okay Chloe, I'm covering your ears with my shirt." He reassured her.  
  
"No! I can't hear me, I can't hear anything!" Her voice rose in panic.  
  
Brady had no time to process her words when the EMT workers arrived. The quickly and carefully strapped Chloe into a stretcher and scant minutes later they were on their way to the nearest hospital.  
  
Chloe had passed out from the intense pain caused by her burns. Brady rode with her in the ambulance. He reached for her hand and squeezed it gently, trying to lend her his strength.  
  
"It's going to be okay, Chloe." He whispered to his love. But somehow he knew it wouldn't be. 


	4. Chapter Four

The Sound of Music  
  
Chapter Four  
  
A man tried to comfort his hysterically sobbing wife while in another corner of the room people prayed quietly. Yet Brady was aware of none of it as he sat in the waiting room with his head in his hands.  
  
{How long has she been in there?} He looked at his watch. {Three hours. Has it been that long?} Strangely enough it had felt like both seconds and years to the young man who waited breathlessly for news of his love's condition. It was for Brady as if he had stepped into a timeless limbo the moment he passed through the hospital doors. As if time here had no meaning.  
  
Had he always been here? In the dingy white room made almost green by the sickly light of the flickering florescent bulbs above him? Even the rhythmic ticking of the clock on the wall behind him did little to reassure him of the actual passing of time.  
  
He watched the people pass by him with a certain detached fascination. Doctors and nurses, patients and visitors, all carrying on their lives oblivious of him and his suffering.  
  
{Snap out of it, Brady!} He shook himself mentally to clear the stupor of his mind. He stood and stretched, casting a worried glance toward the emergency room. He sighed and wondered again what was happening through those doors, where she was. {Don't think about it, Brady. No news is good news at this point.}  
  
He sat back down in his chair and cast a bemused glance around the waiting room. {God, I hate hospitals.} He mused wryly. He'd certainly spent enough time in them. In fact the last few years of his life seemed like one long hospital stay. His sister had been in a coma, then he'd been shot and paralyzed, and then his father and grandfather were shot while at a coronation for a princess, of all things. {Oh, I can't forget Puerto Rico.} he chuckled softly.  
  
Finally, though, there was Chloe's long and painful battle with leukemia. They had finally found a bone marrow match when she had a relapse. Which meant that they had to kill the cancerous cells before they could proceed with the transplant. Brady closed his eyes against the pain of those long weeks. He had rarely left her side during the chemotherapy treatments. Then came the transplant and the anxious days following waiting to see if it was a success. Brady had been at the hospital so much that Craig had joked about him moving in.  
  
{And here we are again, in another hospital, after everything we've, Chloe has been through. Because she was struck by lightning?} He wanted to laugh at the absurdity of the situation. Imagine defeating a deadly illness only to be struck by lightning. {Inside a building, no less. Lord, when is this going to end?}  
  
He shut his eyes tightly to lock out the vision that played in his mind. But he could still see the splotchy blisters covering her beautiful face. He could still smell the burnt flesh and ozone. His stomach twisted with worry and nausea. {She has to be okay.}  
  
{"Brady, I can't hear anything."} her words echoed in his head.  
  
"Brady, how is she?"  
  
Brady turned to face the approaching voices. After seeing Chloe settled into the ER, his first action had been to call Nancy and Craig. John and Marlena had offered to fly them to New York so they could be there for Chloe.  
  
"I don't know, Dr. Wesley. She's been in there for hours now and they won't tell me anything." He replied in frustration.  
  
Nancy spoke up, her luminous eyes wide with worry. "What happened Brady? Your message was pretty vague. She didn't have a relapse did she? Oh Craig, what if it's the Leukemia?" she fretted to her husband.  
  
Brady rushed to reassure her. "It's not a relapse, Mrs. Wesley. Um, Chloe was. we were in the audition studio at Julliard and Chloe was auditioning when the building was struck by lightning. Somehow, I think there was a power surge or something, and she was hit by a bolt of electricity. Dr. Wesley, she has bad burns on her face and her ears were bleeding heavily." He explained haltingly as he fought to focus his chaotic thoughts.  
  
"Okay, I'm going to see if I can find out some more information." Craig said as calmly as he could manage. He gave his wife a fleeting kiss on the temple and went to speak with the ER doctors.  
  
Nancy sank awkwardly into a nearby chair. "Oh God" she moaned as she struggled for breath. "I can't do this!" she cried as she absentmindedly rubbed her very pregnant stomach. "It's too much! When is my little girl going to stop suffering?" she panted for breath as she cried hysterically.  
  
Marlena sat beside her. "Nancy, you must calm yourself. This isn't good for the baby. You don't want to trigger premature labor." Marlena soothed as Brady looked on sympathetically. {The Wesleys have been through all kinds of hell this year.} He thought as he looked again at the doors that separated him from Chloe.  
  
His father's hand on his tense shoulder brought his attention back into the waiting room. John gripped his son's shoulders and smiled sadly.  
  
"Come on. Let's get some coffee."  
  
Craig stood stiffly in the examining room and went back over the reports. The attending doctor was speaking, his voice firm, but sympathetic.  
  
"I'm sorry Dr. Wesley, but it's not a mistake."  
  
Craig looked up from the papers, his eyes focused on some unseen object. "Is there a chance it could come back?" he asked softly.  
  
"I won't rule it out, but I don't think it's likely. The damage is just.too severe."  
  
Craig gazed at Chloe's unconscious body. Her head and face were heavily bandaged and an IV fed her fluids. He closed his eyes and sighed, the weight of the knowledge finally coming down on his shoulders. {This is going to devastate her. All of her dreams, her plans. How is she going to get through this?} He wondered sadly.  
  
He then thought of the people outside in the waiting room. Brady. His pregnant wife. {How will they take it?} He inhaled deeply and straightened his shoulders. He had no choice but to break the news to them. Maybe, just maybe, they could all get through it together.  
  
Brady lifted his head at the sound of Craig's approaching footsteps. He set down his coffee and stood to meet him. The others in the room likewise gathered around. Brady took in the pale gray cast to Craig's skin, the expression on his face, and felt his stomach drop. He knew that whatever Craig had to say, it wasn't good.  
  
Nancy immediately questioned her husband. "How is she Craig? Is she going to be okay?"  
  
Craig paused noticeably at her question. "She will live, Nancy." He finally answered. "She's unconscious at the moment, but she should be coming around shortly. She has 2nd and 3rd degree burns on her face, but they were treated quickly, so hopefully there will be no scarring. She has a mild concussion due to a blow to the head, but again that should heal quickly."  
  
Craig paused again and everyone's anxiety jumped up. They knew by his face he wasn't finished. Brady closed his eyes and steeled himself for bad news.  
  
Craig began again, slowly. "There was.massive damage to her inner ear. Um.it wasn't caused by the electricity itself, the bolt explosion was pretty much confined to her face. The actual damage in her ears was caused by the sound of the explosion, like a thunderclap inside her head. That's what caused the bleeding and unfortunately. the damage is irreparable."  
  
Nancy interrupted. "Craig, honey, what are you trying to say?"  
  
"She's lost her hearing. She's deaf." 


	5. Chapter Five

The Sound of Music  
  
Chapter Five  
  
Outside a pair of birds chirped loudly. They seemed to be singing a duet. First one would sing, high notes trilling in the air. The other would pick up right after the first ended, his melody complimenting the other's. And then the two would overlap, their songs blending and harmonizing into one. It was beautiful.  
  
And, Brady realized bitterly, it was something that Chloe would never be able to experience. His red eyes found their way back to where she lay in a deep sleep, surrounded by machines that monitored her condition.  
  
He stared blankly at the machines. They seemed to be talking quietly to each other. "Beep, whirr, click click." "Whirr, click, beep." He stared at the clock on the wall. It had decided to join the conversation. "Tick tock, tick tock."  
  
He glanced around the room. Everything around him was making a sound: his chair creaked when he moved, doctors talked with a patient in the next room, there was even his own soft rhythmic breathing. It all seemed to combine into one. "Hiss, tick, beep, whirr, creak, click click, hiss, tock, every two hours, creak, beep, whirr, any allergic reactions, hiss, creak." The entire room was a symphony of sound and Chloe couldn't hear any of it.  
  
Brady felt like he was in shock. His brain refused to absorb the information he had just learned. Craig's words echoed endlessly in his head, 'Chloe is deaf,' but to no avail. He simply refused to believe it. It couldn't be, this couldn't be happening. Not now, not after everything he and Chloe had been through. He replayed the scene in his head, thinking that if he kept making himself see it, then he would finally begin to believe it.  
  
It was like a horrible dream, seeing Chloe be hit by lightning. He had relived it a thousand times since it happened and each time felt unreal. He saw the bolt of electricity, heard her scream, watched as she was flung across the room like a rag doll and none of it seemed real. Not even the smell of scorched air and burnt flesh could pierce the haze clouding his mind. When he acted to save her, it had been on pure instinct; his brain had ceased to function on any higher levels.  
  
And even later when he waited anxiously for news of her condition he felt detached, like he was watching someone else. Not even the arrival of their parents helped to convince him of the present reality.  
  
Brady closed his eyes. {The Wesleys. God, what must they be going through.} He could still see Craig's pale gray face when he broke the news. He could still hear Nancy's choked sob. Craig had rushed to comfort his wife who was bordering on hysterical while John laid a strong hand on Brady's shoulder.  
  
But Brady had barely been aware of his father's presence. He just stood there in a daze, struggling to comprehend what this meant for Chloe and her future. How would she get through this? How would he? He couldn't handle his father's attempts to comfort him, well meant though they were. So he asked if he could see her.  
  
He moved to stand my Chloe's side. He'd been in the room for fifteen minutes and was only now able to really look at her. There were so many bandages covering her head that most of her face was covered. Only her eyes, nose and mouth were visible. In his mind he could see the blistering skin that lay beneath the bandages. It was hard to believe that as bad as the burns were, they still weren't the worst injury she had received. Her burns would eventually heal and she'd be every bit as beautiful as she was before.  
  
But Brady would gladly trade all her beauty if it meant Chloe could hear again, if it meant she could have the thing she loved most in her life: music. Besides, her physical beauty wasn't what had attracted him to her in the first place; it was just a plus.  
  
But it was pointless to even think about it, he realized with a sigh. He couldn't trade her injuries anymore than he could heal her. She was deaf, and if the doctors were right, than she would remain that way for the rest of her life.  
  
Brady gently squeezed her hand as the magnitude of her injuries finally settled on him. She had lost her hearing. Music was her life; it was the one thing that had gotten her through the dark painful years of her childhood. And even when her life changed for the better, music was still a vital part of it.  
  
For as long as he had known Chloe, she had had one dream, to be an opera star. That dream was one of the reasons Brady had fallen in love with her and it was that dream that had helped her through her difficult battle with leukemia. And as their friendship grew and they became close, her dream had become his dream. While his plans for the future weren't set in stone, they always seemed to come back to Chloe standing on a stage singing before a crowd of admiring fans, and he standing just off stage, watching her, living her dream with her. Her dream was the driving force behind his need to succeed at Basic Black. He was developing the business skills he would need to one day be her manager. Both of their futures were built on this one dream built on music.  
  
Music. It seemed as if their entire relationship had revolved around it. Their very first meeting had them breaking into song as if it were the most normal thing to do when meeting someone for the first time. And after that first time had come many others. Duets in a lit gazebo at night. Summer days meant to "inspire" her. Even family evenings playing board games ended in song. Music had been their first and still their best way of communicating with each other. Only in song could they really fully express themselves.  
  
And in one moment it had been taken away from them. Because of one freak accident Chloe's hopes and dreams, not to mention his, had been dashed. Her life had been completely changed and she would never be the same.  
  
{Come on, Brady, snap out of it. At least she's alive and she's going to be okay. Her prognosis is better than it was last summer when you didn't know if she would survive the leukemia.} He thought of that summer, how close they had grown while battling her cancer, that wonderful day they found her father, the moment he realized he loved her.  
  
"I should have told you then how I felt," he spoke aloud, forgetting for a moment that his words would not be heard. "But like a fool I didn't. I waited, thinking, 'There will always be later. Now is not the right time.' But the right time never came. Or at least, I was too afraid to act on it. I couldn't take the risk. Isn't that funny? Here I've always been the one to lecture you about taking chances, about how life is risk and to go for your dreams means you have to take a chance on yourself and all the other bullshit I've said. When all along I was the one who was afraid to take a chance on us. I should have told you I loved you when I had the chance. Because now there's this and it's still not the right time. Will it ever be the right time for us?"  
  
He stopped talking when he realized he'd been rambling mindlessly. He gripped Chloe's hand and stared at her closed eyes. "I keep forgetting you can't hear me. Oh, Chloe, I don't know how we're going to get through this but we will get through it. I love you, Chloe, and I'm not leaving your side."  
  
And at his words Chloe blinked her eyes open. 


	6. Chapter Six

The Sound of Music  
  
Chapter Six  
  
"I love you, Chloe, and I'm not leaving your side."  
  
Chloe blinked her eyes open and Brady held his breath, hoping against hope that somehow she had heard him, that the doctors had somehow made a mistake. "Oh God, Chloe, I'm so glad you're awake," he said automatically.  
  
But Chloe took no notice of him and looked around her with an expression of confusion on her face. She immediately knew she was in a hospital, but she didn't know why or how she had ended up there. For a long, confused moment she thought that she was back in the hospital battling her leukemia. She had forgotten that they found her father and that she had been cured.  
  
Brady's hopeful heart fell. She didn't hear him. He squeezed her hand to get her attention. Startled by the sudden contact, she flinched.  
  
Her eyes landed on Brady and she smiled at the boy who gazed at her so anxiously. Once again he was by her side, fighting her illness with her. He didn't know it, but he was her strength. He was the reason she was able to stay strong and keep fighting. He was the reason she was able to do a lot of things. She gazed at her best friend in wonder. Did he know just how very important he was to her?  
  
"Brady," she croaked and immediately paused. Brady sadly noticed the frown of concern that crossed her face. She cleared her throat and tried again. "Brady?"  
  
But once again there was no sound to her ears. Her eyes widened as a horrible thought occurred to her. What if something had happened to her voice? Her heart began to race and she struggled to sit up.  
  
Brady placed a hand on her shoulder. "No, Chloe, don't try to move."  
  
Chloe froze. She had seen his lips moving but had heard nothing. Then she noticed how strangely quiet it was. And she suddenly knew why. It wasn't her voice that was gone, it was her hearing. Her eyes grew wide and with a sudden rush of memory, it all came back to her: Julliard, the audition, the blinding flash, and then the nothingness.  
  
She reached up to touch her bandaged ears and tears filled her eyes. "Brady, I can't hear anything!" she cried in panic.  
  
Brady's heart broke at the sad, panicked confusion on her face. "Ssh," he soothed, "everything's going to be okay, Chloe."  
  
But his silent words only set her off more. "No," she moaned. She tore frantically at her bandages, hoping that they were the cause of her deafness.  
  
"No, Chloe, don't." Brady tried to calm her but she wasn't looking at him. She clutched her ears, ripping at the bandages, her heart racing.  
  
Brady grabbed her wrists and tried to get her attention. "Look at me, Chloe." But she kept shaking her head, body racked with sobs. She was caught up in a state of full panic - hysterical.  
  
"I can't hear, I can't hear," she kept moaning.  
  
Brady's handsome face twisted in pain and worry as he realized he couldn't reach her. He was out of his depth. He turned his head toward the closed door.  
  
"Craig!" he called, his voice ringing with urgency. Seconds later the door flew open as Craig rushed in. Nancy waddled in just after him, no longer able to contain her need to see her daughter.  
  
Craig took in the scene and immediately realized the situation. He moved to where Brady was fruitlessly trying to calm a shaking, sobbing Chloe.  
  
"Dr. Wesley." Brady said helplessly.  
  
Craig grabbed Chloe's hands. She lifted her head and the change in her expression when she saw her stepfather was dramatic. "Craig!" she cried, looking like a child who trusted in her parents to 'make it all better.' Her spirits lifted. Craig would fix it. After all, he had saved her from cancer. Surely, he could heal this simple injury.  
  
She gazed at him expectantly. "Craig, there's something wrong with my ears," she said simply, as if it were no big matter. How could it be? Craig was there, and he would fix it.  
  
Craig nodded sadly. "I know, sweetheart." With an unheard sigh, he sat down in a chair beside her and gazed closely into her face. He was sure to speak slowly and clearly.  
  
"Chloe, there was an accident at Julliard."  
  
Chloe frowned as she stared at his moving lips. She shook her head slightly; she couldn't catch his words. Craig tried again, slower and with exaggerated lip movements. But she still couldn't understand him. She just hadn't had any practice reading lips. In addition, her overwrought emotional state made it impossible for her to concentrate on so difficult a task. She shook her head and growled in frustration, her momentary calm quickly vanishing.  
  
"Shh, it's okay," Craig soothed as he caressed her face. He grabbed a pen and small notebook from his coat pocket and wrote his message. He handed it back to her.  
  
Chloe took the notebook. Brady grabbed a hand and squeezed it for moral support. She smiled up at him and then read Craig's note.   
  
Chloe looked up at Craig and nodded. she wrote back.  
  
came the written reply.   
  
Chloe gingerly felt her bandaged face as her memories became clearly. "I remember," she whispered as her eyes watered. Her hands drifted to her ears. She looked up at Craig, her unvoiced question written on her face.  
  
She looked up at her stepfather, at the man who was more a father to her than her real father. "But you can fix it, right?" she mouthed.  
  
There was a pregnant pause and then Craig gave a sad shake of his head. he wrote simply.  
  
Chloe stared at the words. They seemed to swim before her vision. She couldn't believe it, couldn't believe this was happening. She was deaf? And it was permanent?  
  
She was still trying to process this sudden turn of events when her mother wrapped her arms around her. "Oh, Chloe," Nancy cried. "My baby. You're going to be okay - we will get through this."  
  
But Chloe paid her mother no attention and missed her words. She sat stiff in Nancy's warm embrace, experiencing a kind of emotional shock. She didn't even notice when Brady hugged her, and she certainly didn't hear his own words of encouragement. She simply stared straight ahead, at an unseen dot on the horizon.  
  
"I want to be alone." Her voice sounded distant, detached.  
  
Nancy lifted her daughter's chin to get her attention. She smiled warmly at Chloe. "No, sweetie, I don't think you should be alone right now."  
  
Chloe watched Nancy's moving lips and the dam holding back her emotional flood burst. "GET OUT!" she screamed. She clutched her ears and stared at her blanket as large nickel sized tears dropped from her eyes. "Get out, get out, get out." she moaned, rocking herself on the bed.  
  
Craig laid a comforting hand on Nancy's shoulder. "She needs some time, Nancy. Come on; let's give her some space. She'll be okay."  
  
Nancy turned her red watering eyes to her husband. "Will she, Craig? Will she really ever be okay?"  
  
They turned and exited the room with Brady following a few steps behind. He turned for one last glance at Chloe. He saw her bent, shaking body as she sobbed into her pillow and his heart broke with hers. He found himself echoing Nancy's question. Would Chloe ever really be okay? Would he? 


	7. Chapter Seven

The Sound of Music  
  
Chapter Seven  
  
She was staring out the window. This wasn't unusual. She had spent most of her waking hours like this, curled up on her bed, teddy bear in hand, staring out the window.  
  
A brilliant red cardinal flew up to the windowsill and perched there for a moment, fluttering its wings. It opened its beak and Chloe could almost imagine the chirping that issued forth. She had to imagine it, for she couldn't hear it. She was deaf. The cardinal regarded Chloe for a moment with one wary eye. And then, as quickly as it had come, it flew away again.  
  
Chloe moved closer to the large window so she could see more of the world outside. Kids were playing in the empty field next door. She didn't have to hear them to know they were screaming and giggling, laughing as they played Red Rover Red Rover, Duck Duck Goose, and many other noisy games. She knew this because of the many times she'd heard their squeals of laughter while she was trying to sleep in on a lazy Saturday morning, or during a rare afternoon nap.  
  
She almost smiled at the irony. How many times had she crammed her pillow over her head, wishing their noise would just go away? Now she'd give anything to be able to hear their piercing screams and loud laughter.  
  
She turned away from the window and looked around her room. She was back in her bedroom at home. The Wesleys had brought her home to Salem the moment she was released from the hospital. There was no point in staying in New York. {It's not like I'll be able to go to Julliard now,} she thought bitterly.  
  
So she was now back home. She looked at the stacked boxes that still held most of her belongings. She hadn't been able to bring herself to unpack, nor would she let anyone else do it for her. She knew that unpacking meant finally facing the fact that she wasn't going to Julliard, that all her dreams had been shattered. And she wasn't ready for that yet. As long as the boxes remained then she could pretend she was still going. She was only taking a little break. It wasn't permanent.  
  
Her eyes wandered over her room, carefully avoiding the corner where her stereo and CD collection stood. The first thing she had done when they moved her stuff back in was cover her stereo and CDs with a sheet. She didn't want to look at them, and still couldn't bring herself to acknowledge their existence.  
  
Those CDs were her prized possessions; many of them dated back to her pre- Wesley years when she was shuffled around from foster home to foster home to orphanage. Those CDs had gotten her through the worst years of her young life. She would close her eyes and listen to the beautiful music and for a few precious minutes, she was someone else, living another life. For many years they were all she had and she had lost them. She couldn't face that loss. She didn't think that she ever could.  
  
Her bedroom lights flicked on and off, bringing Chloe out of her thoughts. She got up and knocked on her bedroom wall. She turned to see her bedroom door open as Nancy slowly entered the room.  
  
Nancy smiled brightly at her daughter, but could not hide the sad pity in her eyes. Chloe smiled back and watched her mother's mouth, waiting for her to say something. Nancy spoke slowly and clearly, using a bare minimum of words.  
  
"Just checking in. Do you need anything? Food? Water?"  
  
Chloe shook her head and turned away, ending the conversation. Nancy gave one last sad smile and left the room.  
  
"How is she?"  
  
Nancy jumped and spun around. "Oh, Craig, you startled me," she whispered lowly. She looked sadly at Chloe's closed bedroom door. "She's the same. Oh, Craig, I wish."  
  
"Nancy," he interrupted, "you don't have to whisper. It's not like Chloe can hear you."  
  
Nancy nodded. "I keep forgetting. I find myself talking to her back only to realize she can't hear me."  
  
"I've done it a few times myself. Hard to believe that only a week ago Chloe left to begin her life at Julliard. It just doesn't seem real that so much could happen in such a short amount of time."  
  
So many changes had to be made when they brought Chloe home. They brought in an electrician who hooked up the doorbell to the lights in the house. He also installed a light switch outside Chloe's room that connected to her bedroom lights, so instead of knocking on her door, they would just flick the switch. Craig and Nancy also got her a cell phone with text messaging, but Nancy noticed sadly that Chloe wasn't taking calls nor had she returned any messages.  
  
But these changes were minor, superficial. They had yet to think about how Chloe's loss would affect their lives. Nancy would be giving birth soon; she had planned on Chloe leaving the nest and beginning her own life. Now she was back at home, and she would need a great deal of love and care to get through her trauma. Nancy suddenly found herself being the mother to two children, both of whom would need her. It was more than a little overwhelming without the extra emotions that came with Chloe's loss.  
  
Nancy looked up at her husband's tired, pale face. "Craig, if it's this hard on us, how hard must it be for Chloe? I wish she would open up to me. I wish she would open up to someone. She hasn't talked to anyone; all her friends are worried about her. There are a ton of unread emails on her computer. She hasn't even talked to Brady and you know he's always been the one she turned to. And it's so. quiet now; you'd hardly know she was in there. She hasn't spoken a word since finding out." Nancy blinked back tears as she rubbed her round stomach.  
  
Craig caressed her cheek. "Give her time, Nancy. It's only been a week since her accident and only a few days since we brought her home. She needs time to adjust to all the changes. Marlena says she's still in shock; she hasn't even begun to deal with this huge loss. It could be some time before she's ready to open up."  
  
"God, Craig, how can this be happening now?" Nancy asked, tears falling down her cheeks as she gave into the sadness in her heart.  
  
Outside Craig tried to comfort his sobbing wife, while inside Chloe lay curled up on her bed, staring blankly out the window, her own silent tears tricking down her face. 


End file.
